BRAVE BRUCE THE TWELVE YEAR OLD CROSS BREED DOG WAS DIAGNOSED WITH DIABETES MELLITUS LAST JULY AND HAS BEEN ON CONTINOUS TREATMENT WITH US SINCE THEN.

It was a case of trial and error with his medication at the beginning of his treatment and the aim was to try and reduce his blood glucose to a lower level. To start with, his highest reading was 26 millimoles and above when, ideally, it should be no higher than 10 millimoles. Dogs with high blood sugar can often become very ill, whereas cats can cope much better with it.

His condition became further complicated when he developed bronchopneumonia and a urinary tract infection. Bladder infections are a common complication of diabetes as the increased sugar in their urine triggers the problem. He was treated with antibiotics and, thankfully, this cured the two conditions.

As another consequence of his diabetes, Bruce began to lose weight. He went from 33.2kgs to 30.6kgs in less than two months. The nurses suggested increasing his meals by ¼ tin a day and to keep a close eye on his progress. Having a good appetite, Bruce was more than happy with this! This seemed to do the trick and his weight began to steadily increase again.

By November last year, Bruce’s insulin regime was 28 insulin units twice a day and this seemed to be suiting him well. However, poor Bruce was developing more complications in the form of cataracts. He had them in both eyes and they rapidly began to affect his sight. He started bumping in to things and it was clear he had very little vision left. But, being the remarkable dog Bruce is, he continued to cope and began to rely on people’s voices to get him from A to B instead of his eyes!

By February this year, his blood glucose levels began to creep up again and his insulin units were increased to 31 units twice a day. This seemed to suit him better. Bruce continues to surprise us with his resilient and friendly personality and is currently doing very well.

We wish him and his owners good health and the best of luck for the future!

About Diabetes Mellitus

Otherwise known as “sugar diabetes” is caused by a lack of available insulin in the pancreas. Symptoms include excessive thirst, excessive urination and increase appetite. It can be easily confirmed by a blood test.